In an attempt to consolidate its metal business, the Tata Group on Friday announced the merger of seven of its metal companies into Tata Steel.
The board of Tata Steel approved the amalgamation of seven of its subsidiaries –
, , The , , Indian Steel & Wire Products, Tata Steel Mining and S&T Mining into and with its parent company .
The decision was taken at a board meeting of the company held yesterday, an exchange filing said.
The company has withdrawn the earlier merger scheme of Tata Metaliks and Tata Steel Long Products (TSPL). Under the new amalgamation scheme, Tata Steel will give 69 shares for every 10 shares of TSPL. For Tata Metaliks, Tata Steel will give 79 shares for every 10 shares of Tata Metaliks. Tata Steel will give 33 shares for every 10 shares of Tinplate and 17 for every 10 shares of TRF.
Explaining the rationale behind the merger scheme, Tata Steel said the resources of the merged entities can be pooled to unlock the opportunity for creating shareholder value.
Besides citing other synergies, it also said the mergers will result in utilisation of each other’s facilities in a more efficient manner. Marketing and distribution network of both entities can be collaborated, it said.
“In line with group level 5S strategy – simplification, synergy, scale, sustainability, and speed – proposed Scheme will simplify group holding structure, improve agility to enable quicker decision making, eliminate administrative duplications, consequently reducing administrative costs of maintaining separate entities,” Tata Steel said.
The mega-merger plan would require the approval of shareholders of all the seven companies as well as those of Tata Steel, regulatory bodies and stock exchanges.
Under the leadership of N Chandrasekaran, the Tata Group has been trying to consolidate its businesses that share common synergies. Earlier this year, the group had announced the merger of Tata Consumer and Tata Coffee. This week’s media reports have said that the Tatas are now planning to consolidate airline companies – Air Asia India and Vistara – under the Air India brand by 2024.
